What I remember most about granddaddy

Dear community,

Sorry that it has taken so long for me to make another blog entry. Things have been pretty busy here at “Casa MCJ” getting out newspapers, the holidays and preparing for a special supplement in recognition of the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. Be on the lookout for it. It’s going to be a collector’s item.

Speaking of the holidays, two weeks before Christmas my grandfather, Leon Ervin, passed away. He was 94 years of age. He was living here in Milwaukee being cared for by his daughters (my mom and her sister—my Aunt) and other family members.

My grandmamma, Mary Ervin (granddaddy’s wife), passed away some 20 years earlier.

A memorial booklet honoring him was put together by his daughters. Included in the booklet—which looked back at granddaddy’s life—were recollections by us, his grandchildren (my sister, brother and cousin—whose like a second sister to me).

This is what I wrote in recalling granddaddy growing up:

“Three things stand out the most when rummaging through my memories of my grandfather, Leon Ervin: A gray and white, two-door vintage 50s Chevy, beauty supply products and saws.

“Those may seem strange memories. But to me they’re the strongest, most enduring memories of him growing up and visiting him and grandmamma, Mary Ervin in “tiny” Pine Bluff Arkansas. (Would you believe they fought a Civil War battle over that southern burg? It’s true. There’s a historic marker denoting the unlikely event. I even remarked to mom when I saw the marker: ‘You mean they actually fought over this place?’)

“But I digress.

“Whenever I and the family would visit in the summer years ago when I was a kid, granddaddy, in his slow drawl, would ask me if I wanted to go with him as he made his ‘rounds’ delivering beauty supplies.

“Yup, my granddad, a short yet solidly built veteran of the Pacific during World War II (and one-time carpenter) sold Watkins Beauty products from his two-door Chevy.

“Sometimes before making the rounds, he’d check the oil and other things under the hood of that old car. When he was satisfied everything was A-Okay, we’d hop in (actually, I’d hop in. Granddaddy had to be a little more deliberate with his moves, due to his disability).

“He’d start up the car, put it in gear and we’d back out of the drive way, turn left and drive down Maple Street to ‘our’ first customer.

“The third memory, the saws, reveals granddaddy’s other occupation. He had to be (at least I thought this at the time) the only ‘saw sharpener’ (for lack of a better job description) in Pine Bluff, if not the entire state of Arkansas.

“His ‘workshop’ was the front yard. His ‘tools’ were a contraption he had attached to the white picket fence and an assortment of files.

“He’d attach one of those saws to that contraption and, with a great deal of concentration and skill, sharpen each saw tooth.

“These three memories signify—to me—what was important to granddaddy: Hard work, honesty and an uncompromising determination to do things right and in a Godly fashion. He also had an entrepreneurs’ spirit. He didn’t allow his disability to deter him from anything he set his mind to.

“Those are my memories of my grandfather, a tough, God-fearing, no-nonsense, veteran by the name of Leon Ervin, my granddaddy.”

Until next time community!

Sincerely,

Leon Ervin’s “first-born” grandson!